The Inspector General's official YouTube account shared a video [es] of the announcement:

The incident for which Petro has been dismissed happened a year ago, when he decided not to renew the licences granted to private companies for rubbish collection, wishing to take back the service and promote recycling [es]. But garbage compacting trucks rented in the United States for the mayor's “Basura Cero” (zero trash) programme were still in customs and did not arrive on time. Over the course of three days, trash bags were all over the streets of the city. Eventually, Petro had to silently extend the licenses for three of the four private companies formerly responsible for waste collection, while at the same time contracting the public water company (Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, in Spanish) for some of the trash collection.

The inspector general believed that Petro “consciously” ordered “two companies without any experience, knowledge, and capacity” (the public water company and the spun-off entity “Aguas de Bogotá”) to pick up the rubbish, implemented an “unlawful” new model for trash collection breaking “the constitutional principles of free enterprise and competition,” decisions which Petro knew were “irregular,” and that he dealt with the emergency by using dumper trucks for trash collection, which is not allowed. The complete ruling has not been published yet.

Despite all this, many see the decision as political, given the opposite sides in which Ordóñez and Petro fall in the political spectrum. The severity of the ban contrasts with the mild sanction handed down to Petro's predecessor, Samuel Moreno Rojas, who was only suspended by Ordóñez for a corruption scandal (he would later be sent to prison).

In Colombia, being left-wing, winning an election and ruling as a left-wing politician has just been declared a disciplinary offence.

In 2010-2011 alone, the Office of the Inspector General disciplined [es] 302 mayors and 29 governors. The following year, it punished [es] 258 mayors, 177 town and city councillors, nine governors, five senators, two department deputies, and one legislator from the House of Representatives. As of November 2012, Ordóñez (in office since 2009 and re-elected through 2017) has imposed sanctions [es] on 22 congresspeople from political parties across the spectrum.

1. If a public employee breaks the law, and intentionally makes decisions harmful to society, the regulatory bodies MUST act.
2. Popular vote IS NOT a wild card guaranteeing impunity when breaking the law.
3. The ugly thing about today is how regulatory bodies take advantage in order to profit politically and they don't do their job with everyone.
4. “Two in distress make sorrow less”: just because there are many public employees screwing up doesn't mean that someone shouldn't be punished.
5. The political use of regulatory bodies is a lousy precedent for democracy.
6. 15 years is disproportionate to me. And that's not a justification for calling for a “social mobilisation” even if it's “peaceful”

After claiming [es] that the decision was a “coup d'état”, Mayor Petro called people to support him by going to the Plaza de Bolívar in downtown Bogotá. Meanwhile, the building of the Inspector General's Office was closed and surrounded by the anti-riot police. Around 19:00, Petro made a speech [es] stating that his dismissal was arbitrary, relating it to the political participation of the left, and making allusions to Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Petro called [es] for another mobilisation on 10 December, the day after his dismissal. He may remain in office while the ruling is appealed (before the same Inspector General), but he could also decide to defend himself out of office. It is not quite clear [es] if elections should be called, though it is the most likely scenario [es]. Petro's term was due to end 31 December 2015.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/12/10/bogota-mayor-dismissed-barred-from-politics-over-imperfect-trash-collection/feed/0Colombia: A Long Way to Peace?http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/01/30/colombia-a-long-way-to-peace/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/01/30/colombia-a-long-way-to-peace/#commentsWed, 30 Jan 2013 21:04:16 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=361696This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.

Colombian Armed Forces. Photo by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, the Colombian Armed Forces launched [es] an air strike on a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) camp located near Chigorodó northwestern Colombia. The air strike was called after Elda Ramírez (aka ‘Mayerly’), considered a senior member of the FARC hierarchy, called a man who she believed was a drug dealer interested in buying cocaine. Instead, the dealer turned out to be an undercover police officer, and the consequent air attack claimed the lives of fourteen guerrilla fighters belonging to the FARC’s fifth front.

The air strike also occurred against the backdrop of negotiations between the FARC and Colombian government that have been ongoing since September 2012. To support the peace talks, the FARC announced a ceasefire on November 20. However, Colombia’s armed forces have continued military operations against the organization. On January 20, FARC announced that it had suspended the ceasefire and instead proposed a bilateral truce.

The Colombian government’s attack and the broken ceasefire [es] provoked a variety of response from Colombian bloggers. For instance, a blogger at Colombia Opina celebrated [es] the bombings and explains why the FARC’s fifth front was so dangerous:

FARC's 5th front was some kind of school for terrorists. From Efraín Guzmán [es] to Iván Márquez, and to the now demobilized “Karina” to the still armed rebel [Jhover Man Sánchez Arroyave] aka “Manteco” have all belonged to [this front], an old, belligerent guerrilla structure, which in the early hours of December 31 received another blow by the Colombian Air Forces in ‘Operation Fortune', a bombing which left at least 14 rebels dead and brings back the hope for security of the inhabitants in the strategic area known as the Banana Axis, which borders a corridor of the Abibe Mountains and crosses through Riosucio river to the middle of Atrato river.

In contrast, Camilo Raigozo criticizes [es] President Santos’ ‘happiness’ with the killing of the guerrilla fighters:

The regime headed by President Santos has refused to stop the bloody and deadly orgy which saddens the Colombian people, by not accepting a bilateral ceasefire, not even for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The insatiable bloodthirst of those in power prevents that.

Horacio Duque, on Tercera Información, wonders [es] if the unilateral ceasefire by FARC has worked:

It seems, based on the data delivered by the experts who closely follow these combat operations, that in the first day the success [of the ceasefire] has been resounding. Combat operations and clashes went from 190 to 26 monthly, 23 of them with origin in groups not related to the talks in Cuba (…) Even oil and mining companies have reported a less hostile environment.

Fernando Dorado writes [es] about the convenience of extending the ceasefire:

If the ceasefire period is kept or extended, beyond the holiday season, FARC guerrillas would be putting all the pressure on the government in order to agree to a bilateral ceasefire, which would make the peace process more convincing.

It seems that the reluctance of the Colombian government to respect the FARC ceasefire is intended to weaken [es] the group both militarily and strategically. In doing so, Bogota anticipate that the FARC will have less space to make demands. during the peace talks. The effectiveness of this strategy will likely be determined over the course of 2013, especially as the November deadline for brokering a peace agreement approaches.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

In the last few months, attacks on Colombia’s energy infrastructure by the FARC and ELN have increased. While such attacks affect the lives of many ordinary Colombians, they are most often discussed within the bigger issue of terrorism. However, there are a few Colombian bloggers who offer different perspectives.

Alejandro Gaviria describes [es] the gloomy panorama of attacks up to late August 2012:

The issue is serious. Much more than acknowledged. Tumaco has been without electrical power for two weeks. Several towns in Arauca department have been in the same situation for a few days. One of the transmission lines connecting central Colombia with the Caribbean Coast was dynamited this week. In August, fifteen towers were knocked down. Another seven have been severely damaged. Since the beginning of this year, the attempts against the national electricity system add up to 60. In 2010, there were 24; in 2011, 58.

In a post [es] from August criticizing former Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry for claiming [es] that FARC attacks don't affect the economy, Jorge Monroy writes:

Every time FARC mount an illegal patrol, destroy an electricity tower or blow up an oil pipeline, they are reducing the production possibilities of Colombia as a whole, reducing our potential GNP (gross national product). What the minister intends to say is serious, because if attacks happen outside Bogotá, the potential GNP decreases more than proportionately to the real GNP, which means that the gross national product figures he can show are, according to this measurement, more significant.

Tumaco, a coastal town on the Pacific, in southwestern Colombia, near Ecuador, was one of the most affected places. The town was left in the dark for two weeks in August and also had their supply of water reduced. Landmines planted around the towers killed three people [es] who were making repairs, including one indigenous Awá citizen. Another landmine, close to one of the towers and also to the local school, killed a 17-year-old Awá boy [es].

Mundo Noticias summarized [es] the situation and some of the measures taken or considered by the authorities:

The local administration, together with security forces intends to issue a curfew within the next few hours in Tumaco [...] The situation faced by the people is dramatic and worrying because essential goods are becoming scarce. Besides, some bus drivers don't want to go to the town because of the serious public order situation in the region. [...] Public and private schools decided to suspend activities until order has been restored. A total of 56,000 were on a [forced] school break.

On August 18, 2012, around 2,000 marched [es] to express their contempt for terrorism. The strategic location of Tumaco and its poor security have made this town a victim of guerrillas, paramilitaries and criminal gangs (bacrim) engaged in drug-trafficking. A left-wing Senator demanded [es] the government should develop a security policy for the region.

Though mentioned in the media, these attacks do not usually get deep coverage, and bloggers hardly mention it apart from the list of all criminal acts violent groups commit. Gaviria claimed that the increase in attacks bore relation to rumors at the time of conversations between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas, which had “the veiled purpose of gaining a strategic advantage.” These rumors were confirmed days later. The attacks show how the Colombian state, which claims [es] these attacks show the “weakness” of guerrilla groups, is still far from achieving complete presence in remote areas of the country where armed and criminal groups thrive, despite some efforts [es].

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/23/colombia-how-attacks-on-energy-infrastructure-affects-citizens/feed/4Colombia: The Conflicting Relationship With ‘The Public’http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/08/colombia-the-conflicting-relationship-with-the-public/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/08/colombia-the-conflicting-relationship-with-the-public/#commentsMon, 08 Oct 2012 16:42:49 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=363214After riots at the campus of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá last week, some students proposed [es] to paint the buildings white to express their rejection of vandalism, prompting a debate [es] about the issue. Andrés Villaveces writes [es] about this and the “conflicting relationship” of most Bogotanos with “the public”, pointing out that, unlike other countries in Latin America, the best universities, hospitals, schools, etc. are privately owned.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/10/08/colombia-the-conflicting-relationship-with-the-public/feed/0The Gloomy Years of Colombian Televisionhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/28/the-gloomy-years-of-colombian-television/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/28/the-gloomy-years-of-colombian-television/#commentsFri, 28 Sep 2012 12:00:22 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=359587Since last May [es], ‘pink sauce’ from popular gossip website La Fiscalía has been posting a series on “the gloomy years of Colombian television” [es], where he reviews, tongue-in-cheek and year by year between 1992 and 2012, the most popular mainstream medium in the country. Readers share their memories of their favourite or hated shows in the comments section, as well as fun facts and impressions of what most of them consider the increasingly decreasing quality of Colombian television.

Despite President Juan Manuel Santos’ wish [es] for discretion, news broke [es] in late August that the Colombian government was to begin negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This was finally confirmed by Santos on September 4 during a televised speech that outlined that the government’s negotiations [es] with FARC would seek an end to the armed conflict and drug trafficking. Both sides will also discuss victims’ rights, rural development and the participation of FARC in Colombia’s democratic process. Fearing a repeat of the last round of failed negotiations in 1999-2002, Santos also said that no amnesty would be granted for FARC leaders and that military operations would continue. Minutes later, FARC’s leader, Timoleón Jiménez (‘Timochenko’) appeared in a broadcast from Havana, Cuba and declared that FARC is truly committed to a “civilized dialogue” that would end the decades-old conflict.

Violence will persist

On Distintas Latitudes, Lucas Peña analyzes the differences and similarities with past processes, not only with FARC but also with other armed groups. In conclusion, he asks for more realism, since even a successful process with FARC would not bring an end to violence in Colombia:

The truth is that FARC's abandonment of arms is one, but not the only condition for peace, because there are other actors associated with organised crime who will still engage in violence, some who may even emerge after the eventual FARC demobilisation, as it was shown after the demobilisation of the paramilitaries. In Colombia we call these new actors ‘bacrim', criminal bands servicing drug trafficking, the armies of mafia cartels.

Government in the lead?

On Revista Posición, Alberto Bernal is very critical of the ongoing process, but praises the choice of government negotiators:

On piece of good news is that the negotiation team appointed by the government is first class. Nothing different could be said about [Luis Carlos] Villegas, [Frank] Pearl, or [retired Army general Jorge Enrique] Mora, three of the people who will be permanently seated at the table. I also find it important to highlight the fact that the decision not to declare a ceasefire is convenient for the government, because it is leading in the war, regardless that FARC lately have increased their attacks against civilians.

On the blog Tras la Cola de la Rata, Juana Galeano says [es] the inclusion of the military in the process is brilliant:

I have to admit it: including members of the Army as negotiators is a masterstroke. Including them, giving them voice, co-opts them and prevents them from sabotaging the process later on.

Most Colombians seem to support the peace process with caution. According to polls 77% favour the talks, but 72% oppose an eventual participation of FARC in politics, and 78% do not approve an amnesty with no jail terms for guerrilla commanders.

Though former President Álvaro Uribe has become a staunch opponent [es] of almost everything related to President Santos (his former defence minister), some non-governmental organizations have voiced concerns about a legal framework [es] for FARC passed by the Congress last June.

Santos imposed a June 2013 deadline to reach landmark advances, but it seems that this will be a long process, especially since FARC increased their attacks before the announcement.

Learning from past mistakes [es], improving security all over the country and strengthening trust [es] between the negotiating parties should be important steps towards the success of the talks.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/27/colombians-cautiously-optimistic-about-peace-talks-with-farc/feed/8Colombia: Chronicling a Mugginghttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/26/colombia-chronicling-a-mugging/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/26/colombia-chronicling-a-mugging/#commentsWed, 26 Sep 2012 12:00:18 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=359634Santiago Ardila Reyes blogs [es] about the mugging he suffered in front of his house for his smartphone, describes how he feels about it, and wonders about the causes of the increasing reports of muggings and murders in Colombia.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/26/colombia-chronicling-a-mugging/feed/0Colombia: Political Blog ‘Atrabilioso’ Closes Downhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/24/colombia-political-blog-atrabilioso-closes-down/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/24/colombia-political-blog-atrabilioso-closes-down/#commentsMon, 24 Sep 2012 17:37:07 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=359619After 7 years and thousands of posts by several contributors, the political blog Atrabilioso, managed by journalist Jaime Restrepo Vásquez, closed last August 31. The blog's contributors were critics of President Juan Manuel Santos‘ administration and staunch supporters of former President Álvaro Uribe.(more…)

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/09/24/colombia-political-blog-atrabilioso-closes-down/feed/0The Nazi Past of the Father of Colombian Anthropologyhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/08/16/the-nazi-past-of-the-father-of-colombian-anthropology/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/08/16/the-nazi-past-of-the-father-of-colombian-anthropology/#commentsThu, 16 Aug 2012 15:11:24 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=348242Cristina Vélez posts [es] her thoughts about “Nazi intellectuals” in her blog after it was revealed [es], at an academic Congress in Vienna, that Austrian-born Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff (1912-1994), considered the “father of Colombian anthropology,” had been a member of the Nazi party and the SS in Germany before World War II, as cultural magazine Arcadia reports [es].

On Saturday, July 28, Rigoberto Urán, 25, became the first Colombian to win a medal in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. He finished second at the men's road race final, behind veteran cyclist Aleksandr Vinokurov from Kazakhstan. Norwegian Alexander Kristoff won the bronze medal.

@Aguardientosky [es]: Actually only [athlete Catherine] Ibargüen, some [people] at weightlifting and maybe [BMX world champion Mariana] Pajón are expected to get medals for Colombia. What Urán did was surprising.

@anibaljpg: Urán wins COP 73 million [it will actually be almost COP 80 million [es] (€36,000 or USD44,200)] for a silver medal which cost him training many years, Emilio Otero (former Senate's secretary) COP 360 million (€163,000 or USD200,000) a year… do the math

@stultaviro (1, 2): Is there anything more depressing than a second place? Either first or last. (…) As long as we don't assimilate the only option is to win, we'll continue being nothing in world sport.

@Turint: If someday we train a lot with state support and change our loser's mentality claiming a silver medal is okay, we'll win another gold one [referring to Colombia's only Olympic gold, won by weightlifter María Isabel Urrutia at Sydney 2000].

[It was] impossible not to get excited as I watched him on the podium, but I felt more anger than joy, because he did his best and finished close, but anyway here we celebrate as if a second place was the best thing, when it isn't. We prefer to lose because we're afraid to win, and in order to end with that it would be good to start recognizing it.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/29/colombians-celebrate-unexpected-silver-medal/feed/3Colombia: Locals Concerned Over Media's Slant on Cauca Conflicthttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/24/colombia-locals-concerned-over-medias-slant-on-cauca-conflict/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/24/colombia-locals-concerned-over-medias-slant-on-cauca-conflict/#commentsTue, 24 Jul 2012 13:28:22 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=340412Though the serious situation affecting the southwestern department of Cauca in the last few days is quite complex, the most notorious event was the removal of around 100 soldiers from a military base at the top of El Berlín mountain in Toribío on Tuesday, July 17. A close-up photo [es] of Army sergeant Rodrigo García, taken by photographer Luis Robayo of AFP, crying out of humiliation after been pushed by dozens of indigenous, prompted outrage on social media sites [es] and made the cover [es] of centre-left newspaper El Espectador on Wednesday, July 18.

The Defence Ministry [es] and other indigenous groups, such as the OPIC [es] (Pluricultural Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Cauca), have accused the main local indigenous organisations, ACIN and CRIC (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca), of being infiltrated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), despite the communities’ public rejection of FARC. The weekend before these accusations, some indigenous people and a crew from newscast Noticias Uno were caught in the crossfire [es] as indigenous youth tried to expel guerrilla fighters. Days before, sergeant García himself recorded with his mobile phone [es] and uploaded footage of the indigenous as they destroyed military trenches to his YouTube channel.

Why impose an ultimatum to the Military Forces if they're a legitimate State force created to give security all over the country and defend sovereignty and order? Why don't they rather issue an only ultimatum to FARC, which are the ones seeding terror in the area and all of Colombia? Why doesn't the alleged indigenous guard join the true legitimate force to fight the narcoterrorism slashing Cauca? The answer is very simple: because the CRIC is no more than another FARC front and because they have no interest in leaving aside their coca activity.

The CRIC has complained [es] about “the subjectivity and bias” showed by mainstream media and “the expressions of racism and resentment against the Cauca indigenous peoples.”

Carlos Cortés Castillo wrote two posts about the media coverage of this situation in his blog Subversión de los hechos. In the first post he mocks [es] the speeches delivered by hosts of the morning radio programmes on Caracol Radio (Darío Arizmendi and Gustavo Gómez Córdoba) and W Radio (Julio Sánchez Cristo):

The speech will give us determination to face the future, we'll reinforce our family ties, we'll call that aunt we forgot 10 years ago. We'll put the Constitution on the living room table. Nothing of this will be seen by the journalist, who will be hugged by all his colleagues, “it had to be said, Well done. Your words are powerful.”

[Vélez] learnt his job at two similar schools, identical for the most acute observers: the United States’ Preventive War Doctrine, where he accumulated flight hours, and the Outlandish Football Analysis, which he carries within his blood [referring to Vélez's father, sports commentator Carlos Antonio Vélez].

I think the indigenous are wrong and have overstepped the autonomy given by the constitution. Nevertheless that's still an open debate which deserves more calm and objective analysis. The media hasn't done anything else than blindly support the government's position, with the despicable racist, dogmatic view typical of dictatorships.

Álvaro Duque carries out an exercise [es] with this interview: using a strategy he claims is used by Japanese companies, he switches the questions around, as if the indigenous leaders where interviewing Vélez.

Finally, artist Lucas Ospina assesses [es] both the interview by Vélez and another one (in the same confrontational tone) by veteran newscaster Yamid Amat with Giovani Yule, a spokesperson of CRIC.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/24/colombia-locals-concerned-over-medias-slant-on-cauca-conflict/feed/1Colombia: Scientific Community Concerned Over Resignation of Top Officialhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/23/colombia-scientific-community-concerned-over-resignation-of-top-official/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/23/colombia-scientific-community-concerned-over-resignation-of-top-official/#commentsMon, 23 Jul 2012 11:00:21 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=339869Jaime Restrepo Cuartas [es], director of the Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Colciencias, resigned [es] late June to his post. Mr Restrepo, former president of the University of Antioquia and representative to the House (2006-2010), was one of the sponsors of the law 1286 of 2009 [es], which promoted Colciencias from a section of the National Planning Department (DNP) to an administrative department (a “quasi-Ministry”) and issued a new policy for ST&I (Science, Technology, and Innovation).

Colciencias was created [es] in 1968 as a fund for science research within the Ministry of Education. In 1991 it became [es] an institute for science and technology part of the DNP. Mr Restrepo's resignation has raised concern among the scientific community about the future of Colciencias (the main source of funding for most Colombian scientists) and the future of research in general in the country.

In [es] several [es] interviews [es], Restrepo has stated that there is “no real support” from the administration of president Juan Manuel Santos for Colciencias and that inconsistencies exist between the goals aimed by the government and the financial resources allocated by the Finance Ministry, which would cut Colciencias’ budget for 2013 (in fact, Restrepo said [es] that the finance minister has not given an appointment to him in four months). Colciencias’ staff has been frozen since the mid-1990s [es] but, since research groups have multiplied several times, the staff is overwhelmed.

In fact, the incident between Colciencias and the Finance [Ministry] reveals the style and the way of being rich in Colombia: legally, through land accumulation, extensive stockbreeding and intense and ruthless extraction of raw materials, which eventually, will lead us to misery; and illegally, through drug trafficking and the business of war, which shelters in the darkest and most criminal [places] of human mind, when the conditions of those representing legality don't build the wide avenues of the possibilities of wealth, development and welfare which a nation with complete scientific development can lead.

Shortly after Restrepo's resignation, there were rumours [es] claiming that Luis Pérez Gutiérrez, a controversial former mayor of Medellín, had been offered to replace him. Some researchers published a letter to President Santos [es] expressing their concern and asking him for political will to strengthen Colciencias. Around 1,500 academics signed it [es]. Another three letters [es] have been sent to the President.

Santiago Giraldo is also worried about the future of Colciencias and adds [es]:

You could arguably say that Colciencias exists in Colombia because it would be embarrassing, even ridiculous, to not have such an institution as those in other countries in South America or the developed world, not because [the government] actually wants research in science and technology.

6. Now it turns out that Bancoldex [a Colombian state bank focused on external trade] is the most appropriate entity to manage the innovation process. This is evidence of absolute ignorance about what a ST&I system should be, that's why there are three initials, innovation without science and technology doesn't exist.
If there's no money to research on basic or applied science, or implementation, appropriation of all kinds of technology, with which foundation do they intend to innovate with? This cuts the ST&I system its hands.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/23/colombia-scientific-community-concerned-over-resignation-of-top-official/feed/1Colombia: Cauca Indigenous Demand Army and Guerrillas Leave Their Territorieshttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/11/colombia-cauca-indigenous-demand-army-and-guerrillas-leave-their-territories/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/11/colombia-cauca-indigenous-demand-army-and-guerrillas-leave-their-territories/#commentsWed, 11 Jul 2012 16:43:06 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=336514In an open letter [es, fr], the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN), in south western Colombia, demanded that “groups and legal and illegal armies” leave their territories, specifically the town of Toribío, which is routinely attacked by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) [es]. The indigenous destroyed army and police trenches, as well as a FARC camp [es]. President Juan Manuel Santos was booed [es] when he arrived to the town, where a council of ministers is set to be held on Wednesday, July 11.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/11/colombia-cauca-indigenous-demand-army-and-guerrillas-leave-their-territories/feed/2Colombia: Concern About Contamination at Santa Marta Bayhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/10/colombia-concern-about-contamination-at-santa-marta-bay/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/10/colombia-concern-about-contamination-at-santa-marta-bay/#commentsTue, 10 Jul 2012 15:00:00 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=335794José D. Pacheco M., of the blog Tras la cola de la rata, writes [es] about a study [es] and a report [pdf, es] on the contamination of the bay of Santa Marta, an important tourist destination in the Colombian Caribbean, because of the “poor handling and inadequate control of solid and liquid wastes”.

]]>http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/10/colombia-concern-about-contamination-at-santa-marta-bay/feed/0Colombia: ‘Higgsteria’ in Medellínhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/09/colombia-higgsteria-in-medellin/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/07/09/colombia-higgsteria-in-medellin/#commentsMon, 09 Jul 2012 20:01:36 +0000http://globalvoicesonline.org/?p=335804After the announcement by CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) last week about the search of the Higgs’ boson, Helena Cortés writes [es] about a conference held at the Medellín Planetarium with local scientists explaining the news, and compiles tweets with “accurate and inaccurate comments” about the ‘Higgsteria'.